Chapter 4

At six in the morning, my sudden groan jolted Kane awake again.

"Luna's water just broke. Fetal heart rate is dropping steadily."

The healer examined me and said it was urgent. Surgery had to happen now.

At eight, they wheeled me into the surgical wing.

Kane held my hand the whole way.

At the door, he still wouldn't let go.

"Alpha, family can't go in."

The nurse reminded him.

Kane didn't seem to hear. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine.

"I'll be right out here."

"Call me through the mind link. The second you're scared."

I asked him:

"What if this time, not just the pup—but I don't make it either?"

His pupils shrank. He cupped my face with his hand.

"Don't think like that. This time, you and the pup will both be fine."

I smiled.

"Okay."

The surgical doors slid shut, closing him out.

Vivian was there too.

She sat at the far end of the hallway, gripping her old cane.

Ethan saw her. His face went cold.

"Who let you in?"

"I'm here to welcome my third pup into the world. And this is the last one."

Vivian looked at Kane.

"You promised me."

Kane closed his eyes.

"It's the last one."

"After this debt is paid, you leave Silvermoon territory. And you never show your face in front of Elena again."

Vivian smiled.

"Fine."

"As of today, we're even."

Ten minutes into the surgery, a dull ache suddenly bloomed in Kane's chest.

He pressed his hand over his heart.

On the other end of the mind link, my fear surged toward him like a tidal wave.

"Elena?"

He called out through the bond.

No answer.

Then a sharper pain—like someone was taking a rusty blade and cutting two tangled souls apart.

Kane's face went white. He sprinted toward the operating room.

"Open the door!"

"Alpha, the surgery is still—"

"I said open it!"

Alarms blared from inside. Footsteps scattered. Voices tangled.

"Blood pressure dropping!"

"What about the fetal heart rate?"

"Fetal heart rate—gone!"

"Maternal heart rate—forty... twenty..."

"Prepare for resuscitation!"

Kane froze outside the door.

Vivian stood up too.

"How is this happening?"

"The healer said it was just a routine delivery..."

Kane turned to her. For the first time, there was fear in his eyes.

"Three deliveries in a row have already wrecked her body. And now this—she can't survive it."

"I told you."

Ethan grabbed his collar, eyes bloodshot.

"The healer told you too!"

The words barely landed before a faint crack echoed through Kane's mind.

Snap.

The link connecting him to me—was gone.

Kane's wolf let out a howl of pure agony in the depths of his soul.

His knees buckled. He hit the ground hard.

"No..."

He clawed at the empty space where the mind link used to be.

"Elena. Answer me."

"You hate pain, don't you? Curse at me. Beg me. I don't care. Just say something."

All that answered was the long, flatline wail from inside the operating room.

A moment later, the door opened.

The healer pulled off her bloodstained gloves. Her face was blank.

"Eight thirty-seven in the morning. Maternal heartbeat stopped."

"The pup didn't make it either."

"I'm sorry, Alpha. Luna didn't pull through."

Kane looked up slowly. Like he didn't understand what she was saying.

"Dead?"

"When a fated mate dies, the mind link breaks permanently."

The healer dropped her gaze.

"You should know that better than I do."

The gurney rolled out.

Under the white sheet, a pale hand hung limp. On the ring finger—the full moon band he'd slipped on last night.

Kane lunged forward and ripped the sheet off.

The face underneath had no color. No breath. No rise and fall of the chest.

Even the scent of a fated mate—gone. Completely gone.

"No."

"She was talking to me this morning."

"She asked me—what if she didn't make it this time..."

He gathered the cooling body in his arms. His claws dug into his palms, blood dripping onto the white sheet.

"I didn't want you to die."

"Elena—I just wanted to pay that debt."

"I thought we'd have more time. I thought you'd keep waiting for me..."

The mind link was silent. No one would ever answer him again.

...

I sat in the car heading north, watching the security feed on my tablet.

Kane collapsed outside the operating room, clutching the body I'd left behind.

The witch's spell had fooled his senses. Severed the mind link.

From this moment on—to Kane and the entire Silvermoon pack—I was dead.

Outside the window, the familiar cedar forest slipped backward.

The witch in the front seat glanced at the rearview mirror.

"Cross the northern boundary stone, and they'll never find you."

I turned off the feed and pressed my hand over my belly.

The pup stirred, like he felt my touch.

He was alive.

From now on, he wouldn't be the Alpha's son. Not the pack heir. Not Kane's payment for a debt.

Just my pup.

And I'd take him somewhere Kane could never reach. We'd live. We'd be okay.

The northern boundary stone appeared up ahead. Right as the first light of dawn broke across the sky.

I didn't look back.

"Kane. We're done."